March cash rate rise: Fixed rate 'cliff' to be felt the worst from April

That date arrived last week and Ms Walshe saw her interest rate more than triple as it switched from an ultra low 2.04 per cent to a 6.92 per cent variable rate.

While she was prepared for the increase, Ms Walshe said it was still a "massive difference" to her repayments.

"I obviously knew there was going to be a bit of a jump, but I'm just lucky enough that I have a low loan [amount]," she said.

Ms Walshe managed to negotiate a lower variable rate with her current lender, but is now looking to refinance with the help of her financial adviser.

Her loan is one of more than 800,000 the Reserve Bank expects will switch from fixed to variable this year.

It has been labelled a "fixed rate cliff" and the worst of it is expected from April, two years on from when the average fixed rate was under 2 per cent, CoreLogic data shows.

In its financial stability review published in October 2022, the Reserve Bank noted about 35 per cent of outstanding housing credit at the time was on fixed-rate terms, including the fixed portion of split loans.

About two-thirds of those loans were due to expire by the end of 2023, the review stated.

In February, Reserve Bank head of economic analysis department Marion Kohler said the estimated number of loans rolling off a fixed rate this year was in the high-800,000s.

"The amount of credit that is rolling off is around $350 billion," she told a parliamentary committee on the cost of living.

On the back of another rate rise on Tuesday, CoreLogic research director Tim Lawless said the rate tightening cycle was "the largest and the most rapid on record by some margin".

But the full extent of the cycle is yet to flow through to households, he said.

"Variable mortgage rate adjustments take some time to impact existing borrowers, and there is also a larger than normal portion of mortgages on fixed terms that have been insulated from rate hikes to date," he said.

"As the 'bulge' in fixed-rate lending that occurred through 2020 and 2021 expires, more households will see their interest repayments adjust higher."

Graham Cooke, head of consumer research at comparison website Finder, said the latest rate rise was bad news for those already struggling.

"Australians with the average loan size of around $600,000 will be forking out over $13,000 more per year on their mortgage compared to what they were paying a year ago," he said.

More than one-third of homeowners (36 per cent) said they struggled to pay their mortgage in February, a Finder survey revealed.

Financial adviser and Nest Advisory Group director Nick Lucey said he was working with clients, like Ms Walshe, who are coming off fixed rates almost daily.

He said he hadn't had any requests for financial hardship assistance. Rather, most clients were looking for a better deal.

"One of the good things I suppose we're seeing is, because house prices have gone up so much, refinancing to a different bank is pretty easy because people have a lot of equity in their property now," he said.

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Ms Walshe is confident she can manage higher repayments, but is prepared to cut back on spending and holidays where needed.

"I'm lucky enough that my pay goes up every year. But obviously there are so many people out there that aren't in the same boat as me. I'm just lucky enough that I do have a very secure job," she said.

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